Swinging doors



E. CANN SWINGING DOORS June 7, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 18.1958 INVENTOR. EDWARD CANN AGENT.

E. CA N N SWINGING DOORS June 7, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 18,1958 IN VEN TOR.

AGEN 11 United States 1 SWINGING DOORS Edward Canu, Summit, NJ.; JoanCalm and The Summit Trust Company, both of Summit, NJL, as trusteesFiled Sept. 18, 1958, Ser. No. 761,885

4 Claims. (Cl. 160-87) My invention relates to double/acting doors i.e.doors which swing in two directions, and more particularly to doorswhich have a thin panel and a. frame which extends along the top andatleast a part of one side.

Double-acting doors are generally mounted within a wall opening with thehinges or pivots located within the opening and spaced back from theedges thereof. As a result the effective or usable width o-f'the openingis reduced by at least twice the greatest overall thickness of the doorwhich, of course, limits the size 'of the trucks which can use the same.In addition when the hinges or pivots are so located they not onlyoccupy space but also are very vulnerable positioned to damage by thetrucks using the opening.

The above-mentioned difliculties are particularly severe with doorswhich have flexible panels and a pivoted supporting side member such asflexible doors of the general type described in my US. Patent 2,279,572.While the panels of such doors are thin and thus do not themselvesgreatly reduce the effective width of the opening, the pivotedsupporting side member, which usually contains a spring mechanism, is ofconsiderable size and restricts the opening. As the supporting sidemember is pivotally supported at only the top and bottom and is notstrengthened by the flexible panel, it is subject to being bent in adirection parallel to the side of the opening when struck by a truck. Ithas been proposed to eliminate this difliculty by limiting thesupporting side member to only the upper part of the door, but such aconstruction has the serious disadvantage that the lower part of theflexible panel is not properly supported and may be displaced from theclosed position by drafts, air pressure, etc. In addition when thetrucks are heavily loaded the top of the load may damage the sideportion of the frame.

The above difiiculties are particularly prevalent when the doors areused in an opening toa cold storage room or freezer as in such cases itis necessary to keep the opening as small as possible and to keep ittightly closed for as much of the time as possible in order to reduceheat leakage as much as possible. Thus, when the opening is in use itmust be utilizedas efficiently as possible by using trucks which are aswide as possible and are loaded as high as possible, and using doorswith flexible panels which, by their flexing-swinging action keep asmuch as possible of the opening closed while the trucks are passingthrough.

The main object of my invention is to overcome the above difficulties.

A further object is to provide a door, particularly double-doors of thedouble-acting type, which reduce the eifective width of the opening aslittle as possible.

Another object is to provide a hinge or pivot construction for suchdoors which is not subject to damage by trucks using the doors.

A still further object is to so locate the hinge or pivot constructionthat it can be readily supported over its entire length. r

ice

Further objects and advantages of my invention will appear as thedescriptions of the invention progress.

In accordance with the invention I provide the door with pivoting meanswhich are spaced from the adjacent surface of the door. I so shape theside portion of the frame that these means are pivoted at a point spacedback from the side of the wall opening a distance substantially equal tothe distance the pivot means is spaced from the adjacent surface of thedoor. The location of the pivot point of the door and the shape of theside portion are so selected that the door will swing through an angleof at least In one embodiment of my invention I join the flexible panelto the side frame portion at a point which lies between the edge of thewall opening and the pivot so that this joint will lieoutside of theopening and the effective width of the lower portion of opening will bethe actual width of the opening minus twice the thickness of therelativelythin flexible panel.

As my invention has particular advantages in connection withdouble-doors of the double-acting type which have a relative thinflexible panel secured at its top and one side to an inverted L- shapedpivoted frame of considerable thickne'ss,'I shall describe the same inthat connection. However, my invention is not limited thereto but isalso applicable to single double-acting doors and to doors of otherconstruction.

In order that my invention may be clearly understood and readily carriedinto effect I shall describe the same in more detail with reference tothe accompanying drawing inwhich:

,Figure 1 is a front view of a set of double-acting double-doorsaccording 'to the invention shownmounted infront of 'a wall opening,

Fig. 2 is' a top view on an enlarged scale of a portion ofFig. 1, withcertain parts removed,

Fig. 3 isa'sectional view'along line 33 of Figurc 1,

Fig. 4is a sectional view on an enlarged scale along line 4-4 of Figure1, and

Fig. 5 is a sectional [view of a portion of a door and Wall andillustrates a pivot construction according to another embodiment of theinvention.

Referring to Figures 1 to 4, the reference numeral 11 indicates a wallprovided with an opening which is closed by two double-acting swingingdoors 12 and 13 which are of similar design except that one is a righthand 15 which is provided at its lower and upper ends with pivots 16 and17 respectively. The pivots rotate in metal plates 19, oneof whichissecured to the floor and the other of which is secured to a woodenmember 18. Member 18 is secured to the wall 11 by suitable metalbrackets 9 and extends the width of the doors and also out from the wallto thereby close the space between the top edges of the doors and thewall.

A wooden member 20 secured to the wall fills the space between the walland the frame member 15. It should be noted that the member 20 alsoserves to prevent any blending of frame member 15 when it is hit bytrucks.

The doors are provided with suitable double-acting spring means 25 whichserve to return the doors to the closed position, but as such means arewell known in the art, for instance in my above-mentioned patent, theyhave not been shown in detail.

Supported from frame member 14 by means of metal strips 21 and flat-headmachine screws 22 is a thin flexible panel 23 of a suitable material,such as rubber or plastic, provided with a window 8.

It will be noted that the top part of the frame member 14 does notextend to the edge of panel 23 and this is done so that the frames ofthe doors will not strike when the doors, which are pivoted off center,are moved into the opening. As'shown in Figure, 3 the flexible panels 23are allowed to overlap a small amount. 1 1 1 The location of the pivots16 and 17 and the shape of the end portion of the frame member 14 are soselected that the door can swing through at least 180 as shown in dottedlines in Figure 3. As shown in Figure 2, the distance a between thepivots 16 and 17 and the highest point on the adjacent surface of thedoor, in this case the frame member-14, is made about equal to thedistance b between pivots 16 and 17 and the side of the wall opening. V

In the construction shown in Figure 3 the'connection between the panel23 and frame member 14 extends slightly into an extension of the openingand is in a position in which it is subject to damage by trucks. Thiscan be avoided by a construction such as shown in Fig-' ure S in which.the connection is made'at a point spaced backfrom the side of theopening and closer to thewall.

While I have described my inventi'oninrconnection with specific examplesand certain applications, I do not desire to be limited thereto becauseobvious modifications will readily present themselves to one skilled inthis art.

What I claim is: e

1. A double-acting door swingable on a support spaced from one sidesurface of a wall forming an opening and spaced back a predetermineddistance from the side of the opening, comprising a flexible panelportion, a frame having a side portion extending out from said panelportion, and pivoting means located near the edge of said side portionand rotatably mounted on said support, the distance between saidpivoting means and the adjacent surface of said panel portion beingat'least as large as said predetermined distance.

2. A double-acting door swingable on a support spaced from one sidesurface of a wall forming an opening and spaced back a predetermineddistance from the side of the opening comprising a frame having a topportion and a bent side portion, a thin panel of flexible material sidesecured to said side portion, and pivoting means located near the edgeof said side portion and rotatably mounted on said support, the distancebetween said pivoting means and the adjacent surface of said panel beingat least as large as said predetermined distance.

3. A pair of double-acting double-doors each swingable on a supportspaced from one side surface of a wall forming an opening and spacedback a predetermined distance from the side'of the opening, each doorcomprising a frame having a top portion and a bent side portioma panelof flexible material substantially thinner than said top portion andbeing secured at its top and one side to said frame, and pivoting meanslocated near the edge of said bent side portion and rotatably mounted onsaid support, the distance between said pivoting means and the adjacentsurface of said panel being at least as large as said predetermineddistance.

4. A double-acting door swingable on a support spaced from one sidesurface of a wall forming an opening and spaced back a predetermineddistance from the side of the opening comprising an L-shaped framehaving a top portion and a bent side portion, a thin flexible panelsecured at its top and one side to said frame, at least the bottom halfof said side portion having a width substantially less than saidpredetermined distance, and pivoting means located near the outer edgeof said portion and rotatably mounted on said support, the distancebetween said pivoting means and the adjacent surface of said panel beingat least as large as said predetermined distance.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS115,851 Hawley June 13, 1871 2,041,998 Finley May 26, 1936 2,279,572Kann Apr. 14, 1942 2,827,117 Bateman Mar. 18, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS,

526,642 France July 6, 1921 1,079,154 France May 19, 1954

